Butterfly – Vertical Fly

Want to see what a beautiful butterfly pull feels like? Here’s a drill anyone can do to learn the flowing feeling of fly when it all comes together.

Why do it:
When the body and arms work together, butterfly pull aids in the continued momentum of the swimmer flowing down the pool. Too many of us only associate the pull with trying to hoist our body out of the water to breathe, and hopefully go forward. Learning this feeling is a positive step in learning a killer fly.

How to do it:
1) Position yourself in a pool that’s a few feet deeper than you are tall. 7 – 9 feet is perfect, but shallower may work.2) Jump off the bottom in a semi-streamline position heading toward the surface.3) Before your hands break the surface, initiate a butterfly like pull, helping your body pop through.4) Once above the water, recover your arms like a stroke of fly.5) Repeat

How to do it really well (the fine points):
Do a bunch of jumps to get that feeling, then go horizontal, pushing off the wall and initiating your butterfly with the same feeling as popping up… take just a couple strokes with the aid of the momentum off the wall. Now you know what your fly is SUPPOSED to feel like. Get that as much as you can during your swimming.